Victory for procrastinators

December 27, 2004

For all those who have tossed on their clothes and rushed out the door on a Sunday morning to beat the late fees at Blockbuster, muttering all the way about the unfairness of it all, there is now a measure of relief. Blockbuster Inc. has announced that as of Jan. 1, it will allow customers a one-week grace period before any charges are levied for late tapes or DVDs.

Speaking for thousands of harried, last-minute returners, this is a welcome change.

Is Blockbuster acting out of some sudden sense of justice, a season-appropriate dawning of sympathy and compassion that these late charges, sometimes for movies only a few hours overdue, are simply not fair?

Nah. Blockbuster officials say by relaxing the late policy, they're relinquishing a potential revenue source that would have contributed millions to the company in 2005.

So why do it?

In a word: competition. Blockbuster is battling increasing competition from online movie rental outfits like Netflix as well as retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Target.

As we've often said, competition is a beautiful thing.

Blockbuster is responding appropriately to the market, in which customers are demanding more flexibility and a greater appreciation of their often slothful habits.

Whether the new policy will work, we don't know. We're no experts on the changing landscape of movie rentals. But we do know a thing or two about procrastination. When given a deadline, the natural human response is to dawdle until the deadline looms menacingly.

So we predict that more Blockbuster customers, instead of dashing out to deliver a tape by noon on the third day, will simply dash out several days later, racing to beat the new deadline. For those who miss those new deadlines, Blockbuster will charge for the movie, minus the rental fee. (But you'll still have 30 days to return it. The purchase is then reversed, even though a "restocking fee" of $1.25 is charged.) That's okay. We're in a deadline-oriented business. Busting deadlines has its consequences.

The only real losers in all of this, we suspect, are those poor souls who procrastinate in another way. If they're like us, they wind up wandering the aisles at 7 p.m. on a Saturday, looking for a copy of a hot movie like "Shrek 2" or "Before Sunset." Good luck.

It was difficult to find those before, with a two-day deadline and clerks who always seemed to be promising that one of those hot releases was due back anytime.

If more people take advantage of the one-week grace period, those who don't get to the Blockbuster early could find themselves, more than ever, out of luck. Or maybe swimming in it. Remember, libraries are stuffed with good books, and their lending periods--that's lending, as in absolutely free, with no restocking fee--generally run two or three long weeks.